What are Heroes?

We don't often force change on the world, but as Mahatma Gandhi said we are the change we want to see in the world.

Let's go back in history to July 1941 at the Nazi camp of Auschwitz. Ten men are sentenced to death by starvation. One of the men cries out that he cannot die because of his family. Another, middle-aged, man, Maximilian Kolbe, steps forward and offers to take his place. Maximilian offers to die instead of this stranger.

Do Maximilian's actions seem to contrast sharply with those of most heroes? Certainly. Yet the sacrifice touches us. We think of most heroes as those who come out of conflict in triumph. These are heroes who fight strongly against injustice and wrong-doing. But, Maximilian very quietly offered to suffer and die instead of another man. He did not condemn his persecutors or their actions.

Perhaps we need to rethink our ideas of heroes? This new hero is more limited. This new hero is just human, like we are.

Whenever we usually talk about Heroes, we think first of the many superheroes that we grew up with in comics, in movies and on TV: Superman, Captain Planet, Elastigirl, Spider-Girl, to name a few. Then as we grow up, we begin to think of the many men and women who take on extraordinary tasks to gain and protect our rights and freedoms: We begin to look at real people in history and around our lives: Soldiers, Firefighters, Police Officers, and many more.

But, there is a class of heroes that we rarely think about. We often forget these very ordinary heroes, even though they are the ones who are most like us. When we praise superheroes and soldiers, this third class makes us wonder: is it possible for regular people, even the victims of war, to be heroes?

So, if Maximilian Kolbe is to be called a hero, what kind of hero is he? How does he act as a role model for us? Can he compare him to the soldiers and social activists of the times past or of today? I think we have to look at our own understanding of what heroes are, and why we admire them.

In youth, it seems our society is obsessed with "superheroes," those few gifted members who alone could truly fight against injustice. But, some of us grow tired of these figures. We may have tried hard to be like them in every way, but we couldn't. Their abilities were "supernatural" or extraordinary and we remained just us, "natural." They are always extraordinary while we are ordinary.

So, perhaps we had to rethink our ideas of heroes. We replaced our Superman with Batman. Did it work? We may have replaced supernatural abilities with more natural abilities. This new hero was much more like us, imitable. We might be able to imitate such a hero. And we found the hero limited, perhaps flawed, with their own problems. This new type of hero was human (think Spiderman, The X-Men, Iron Man). Still, even these new heroes called us to be not what we are, but something different, something more than we are. We had to give up the ordinary tasks and take up extraordinary ones. We needed huge amounts of money, expertise or a gift power.

Once just giving change to a homeless person, or making donations to Charity was praiseworthy, but these days, while still needed, it is no longer sufficient, we somehow have to take up banners and start organizations to destroy poverty altogether. We have to look at the big picture and solve the big problems.

All these views of heroism are still heroic, and very admirable. But, slowly we have to realize that even in our ordinary lives, in those small details and teeny-weeny struggles we are all heroes. In our everyday tasks, we need to realize that we are making a difference. At the end of every day, that is what heroes do. That is what we do. We make a difference. That difference may be helping one person or 1 million. It is in the action of helping that the heroism.

We may not end poverty by sparing a homeless person some change, but we may have helped him live another day. It may provide one more touch of hope and possibility. It may give them the strength to go on.

It is in this most basic way that Maximilian Kolbe is a role model for us. His heroism was profound but simple. He gave up his life, his possible future as a survivor for someone he hardly knew. He may not have openly spoken out against injustice, but he spoke eloquently by offering his life to prevent one instance of it.

Maximilian's form of heroism is very practical. We may not all have the chance to offer our lives for someone in the way Maximilian did, but we can help to a degree every day.

When parents go to work to provide for their children, when teachers take the time to teach their students with care, when children offer to help their parents with little tasks around the house, they make a very significant impact on their immediate surroundings. They each, in a sense, do offer their lives in order to give new life, hope and encouragement to others.

Like Maximilian we are heroes as we live out our ordinary lives. We don't have to force change on the world. As Mahatma Gandhi said we are the change we want to see in the world.